Culture

The Pilgrims’ journey from Plymouth, England to Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts did not happen as it was meant to. The Mayflower had twice tried to leave for the New World before she managed it. Twice she set out with her companion ship, the Speedwell, and twice the Speedwell began taking on water, forcing the two ships back to England. The second return brought them to Plymouth, where the Speedwell then remained. The Mayflower would have to brave the Atlantic crossing alone. After 66 stormy days, the Mayflower reached Cape Cod, more than 600 miles north of her original destination of Jamestown. She tried to sail south to Virginia, where she was expected, but relentless storms blew her back up the coast.

Whatever shape the 250th anniversary celebrations take, two things are certain. First, they will very prominently feature our 47th President and, second, there will be fervent renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at every opportunity. Whereas Donald Trump will not face any time limits on his oration during his headline slot at the promised rally on the National Mall – he has two and a half centuries to cover, after all – the anthem-singing will be cut short, as usual, after one verse, and will certainly not extend to the third, which expresses the fervent hope that, “no refuge could save the hireling and slave; From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave.” For me, the words always evoke a glow of family pride.

It was a sticky night at the lower east side menswear store "Le Pere," where dozens of downtown New York's sceney regulars filled the room to see the viral phenomenon “Woah Vicky” read her original poems. Publicist Mitchell Jackson has a nose for this generation’s enfants terribles – besides Vicky herself, a few of his clients dotted the crowd, including playwright Matt Gasda and the memoirist Caroline Calloway. The reading drew the usual familiar faces, including celebrity photographer Matthew Weinberger, Byline co-founder Gutes Guterman, and writers Mackenzie Thomas and Michael Crumplar. Woah Vicky, the marquee reader of the evening, is a 26-year-old influencer from Atlanta, who first became famous as a teenager for a string of racial controversies and celebrity feuds.

The Catholic world has been in an uproar since February, when the Society of Saint Pius X, a Catholic order of traditionalist priests, announced its intention to consecrate bishops with or without papal approbation, for the second time since 1988. On May 26, the identities of their four candidates were revealed: one American, one Swiss, and two Frenchmen.  The Society acknowledges the extraordinary nature of its action, but insists that the Church is in a serious crisis. Without their own bishops, it says, no one will ordain priests trained exclusively in traditional Catholic doctrine and liturgy, and the faithful who rely on them will be left without recourse.

What can we expect from this weekend’s UFC event on the White House lawn? There is a more than good chance that this occasion, staged to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence, will climax with American headliner Justin Gaethje being knocked out all too quickly by the terrifying Georgian short-ass Ilia Topuria. Like everything to do with the UFC, the prospect is ludicrously exciting. If you are a sports fan – indeed, if you are merely interested in the colorful business of being alive – and you don’t follow the Ultimate Fighting Championship, you are missing out. With its incredible cast of outsized characters and mesmerizing subplots, it is ceaselessly and wonderfully entertaining.

The term “Orientalism” has always implied some kind of caricature of the eastern world. It was originally coined as a way of describing how the West imagines the East as its negative to shore up self-confidence and justify conquest: “The Oriental is irrational, depraved (fallen), childlike, ‘different’; thus the European is rational, virtuous, mature, “normal,’” Edward Said wrote in Orientalism. Now, reverse “the Oriental” and “the European” and you have an idea of the new Orientalism, where the enlightened East becomes the foil to a decadent, violent, barbaric West. The new Orientalists aren’t academics, policymakers or Wall Street Journal opinion columnists.

Before the final episode of the Stephen Colbert-hosted Late Show, President Trump was asked what he thought about the demise of a program that was as well-known for the digs that it leveled at him as for its comedic monologues and high-profile special guests. Trump replied, ominously, “I’ll have a message at a later date.” And the verdict duly came in, as Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Colbert is finally finished at CBS. Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!” It was broad, self-referential, star-studded and played it very safe.

Unpretentious and tucked away, it is not easy to drive past the tiny hamlet of Allagash, population 237, in the far northern tip of Maine. That’s because the blacktop ends at the town’s western edge. Allagash is one of a handful of jurisdictions in the east above the 47th parallel. Beyond the paved road, to the north, west and south stretch more than one million acres of forest. To be sure, there are logging roads in the woods, but no towns, gas stations or supermarkets. Just miles and miles of boreal forest whose birch, pine, alder and spruce blanket the hillsides, lakeshores and river bottoms.